sustentation

[ suhs-tuh n-tey-shuh n ]

/ ˌsʌs tənˈteɪ ʃən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sustentation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

maintenance in being or activity; the sustaining of life through vital processes.

provision with means or funds for upkeep.

means of sustaining life; sustenance.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

sustaining program, sustenance, sustentacular, sustentacular cell, sustentaculum, sustentation, sustentation fund, sustention, sustineo alas, susu, susurrant

Origin of sustentation

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin sustentātiōn- (stem of sustentātiō) an upholding, equivalent to sustentāt(us) (past participle of sustentāre, frequentative of sustinēre to sustain) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

sus·ten·ta·tion·al, adjectivesus·ten·ta·tive

[suhs-tuh n-tey-tiv, suh-sten-tuh-tiv] /ˈsʌs tənˌteɪ tɪv, səˈstɛn tə tɪv/, adjectiveself-sus·ten·ta·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sustentation

Colonel Digby's spirits depend much upon female support and sustentation.
The Ladies|E. Barrington
Interest as connected with the sustentation of a certain mode of social life.
A Critical Examination of Socialism|William Hurrell Mallock
The poor husbandman and artificer must labour all weathers for his living and the sustentation of his family.
History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth. Vol. III|James Anthony Froude
In Flanders there are permanent funds, &c. for the sustentation of the poor.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction|Various

But the writer has perhaps learned to regard two glasses of meridian wine as but a moderate amount of sustentation.
Dr. Wortle's School|Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for sustentation

sustentation

/ (ˌsʌstɛnˈteɪʃən) /

noun

a less common word for sustenance

Word Origin for sustentation

C14: from Latin sustentātio, from sustentāre, frequentative of sustinēre to sustain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012